Simon Murray, who once suggested women are a risk to hire because they have a
desire to get married and become pregnant, now claims to support boardroom
equality.

Is Simon Murray, Glencore’s fearsome former chairman, mellowing in his old age?

Mr Murray, 74, famously caused quite a stir by suggesting that women are a risk to hire because they have a desire to get married and become pregnant. As he told this very newspaper two years ago, women’s capacity in the workplace is limited because “pregnant ladies have nine months off”, and they’re “not so ambitious in business”.

“At the moment, women have to be terribly good to get on boards – or they are token appointments,” he says. “Either way, it’s unfair. We will have gender equality when there are bad women on boards, like the men.”

Whoever can Mr Murray, currently grappling with boardroom unrest at colourful oil explorer Gulf Keystone, have in mind?

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The private firm hoping to exploit the UK’s shale gas resources and the public body proving the Government with impartial advice on fracking techniques have more in common than you might think.

Cuadrilla and the British Geological Survey (BGS), for it is they, share a love of the misanthropic singer Leonard Cohen.

The unlikely bond has been revealed in emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Greenpeace, which will be published over the coming weeks as part of the eco-warrior’s effort to “open up the relationship between energy companies and the government”.

A spokesman for Cuadrilla confirms it does “communicate appropriately” with the BGS.

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Much hand-wringing from Sir George Iacobescu, the chief of Canary Wharf Group, over the lack of supply in the London housing market. He told Dashwood last week that the Bank of England’s stress tests and loan caps are simply “making less people able to afford houses”.

But the property developer’s two soon-to-be-constructed tower blocks in Canary Wharf may not suit everyone’s pocket.

One of the “premium” developments – nicknamed the “Diamond Tower” – has a swimming pool on the 24th floor.